Hiroshima Okonomiyaki 広島風お好み焼き

Have you tried okonomiyaki before? It’s a Japanese savory pancake that contains a variety of ingredients. “Okonomi” in Japanese means “as you like”, so it’s a savory pancake that contains whatever ingredients you want. Hiroshima Okonomiyaki (広島風お好み焼き) or Hiroshimayaki is a type of Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) from Hiroshima, Japan.

Osaka Style Okonomiyaki (picture below; recipe here) includes batter, which is made of flour and water or dashi, shredded cabbage, egg, and green onion along with protein of your choice, such as pork belly slices or seafood.

Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki uses almost same ingredients, but they are layered rather than mixed in the batter like Osaka style. Not only that, fried egg and yakisoba noodles (or sometimes udon noodles) are used as toppings.

Which one is tastier? Well, that’s up to your preference. If you like fried noodles and less doughy texture, Hiroshima okonomiyaki is definitely your choice.

I like both okonomiyaki and hiroshimayaki and it’d be very hard for me to pick just one! So I cook them alternatively.

The best part of both Hiroshima and Osaka style okonomiyaki for me is the Okonomi Sauce (お好みソース). Originally the Worcestershire sauce was used but throughout the years the flavor is evolved to current flavor. It has sweet and sour flavor that’s slightly different from Tonkatsu Sauce and it’s so delicious!

By the way, when you are in Hiroshima and order “okonomiyaki”, this layered okonomiyaki with noodles and fried egg comes to the table instead of Osaka style okonomiyaki. Hiroshima style okonomiyaki has been around since 1950s. At that time, the country was quite poor and people only used a little bit of flour and vegetable to make Hiroshima okonomiyaki. The current Hiroshima Okonomiyaki with meat, egg, and noodles is a version that has evolved throughout the years. Now there are over 2,000 okonomiyaki specialized restaurants within Hiroshima area.

I’ve made a video tutorial on how to make Hiroshima Okonomiyaki! It’ll help you visually what the whole process looks like and it’s very easy to make (Flipping requires some practice…). Itadakimasu!

Add the flour and whisk until combined. Chill the batter for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator so the texture will become smooth.

Meanwhile, cut the cabbage and scallion into thin slices. A good sharp knife will help you cut the cabbage into thin slices.

Grind katsuobushi in a mortar and pestle until it becomes fine powder.

After chilling in the refrigerator, the batter becomes smoother.

We will make one hiroshimayaki at a time (unless you are comfortable making two at the same time). Keep in mind the ingredients are for 2 serving so divide all the ingredients into two equal parts.

Heat a large non-stick griddle (I use a Japanese electric hot plate) to 340°F (170°C). Pour about ¼ cup of the batter onto the hot griddle. Immediately using the back of the ladle, move in spiral motion from the center towards the edge of batter (see the video). This process will make the batter thin out and maintain the nice round shape. The width of “crepe” should be about the 8-9 inches.

Pour 1 Tbsp. batter on top (this will act as glue). Using two spatulas one on each side, carefully and quickly flip. Turn the heat to 390°F (200°C) to cook the meat. Don’t press down the “crepe” with the spatula yet (you will do it so on Step 13). When the pork belly is no longer pink, turn the heat down to 340°F (170°C) and move the hiroshimayaki to the side. If you are using a frying pan instead of griddle, start heating up another frying pan.

Separate the noodles with hands and place them in the open space on the griddle (or the 2nd frying pan). Stir fry the noodles until they are coated with oil. Add 1-2 Tbsp. okonomi sauce and coat with the noodles.

Make the noodles into a round shape similar to the same size as the “crepe”. Now using two spatulas, transfer the hiroshimayaki on top of the noodles.

Heat the oil in the open space and crack an egg. Quickly spread the egg into the same size as hiroshimayaki.

Before the egg is completely cooked, place the hiroshimayaki on top of the egg (see the video).

When bottom of the egg is cooked, using the two spatulas, flip the hiroshimayaki for the last time.

Season with okonomi sauce, mayonnaise, and aonori. Serve immediately.

Notes

Prep time does not include chilling time for the batter.

Usually cake flour is used for hiroshimayaki, but I used all-purpose flour since it’s more readily available.

Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.

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I smiled to read the words “it’s very easy to make” as your proficiency as obviously come about from lots of practice. I can’t imagine what a ‘dog’s breakfast’ I’d make if I tried especially as I’d have to use 2 frying pans and do quite of bit of juggling of components. But I know it would be SO good.

NO WAY! You cook like an absolute PRO, Nami! I’m envious of that amazing grill you have. Maybe if I show this to my husband he will buy me one. You’re a genius, Nami. Thanks for sharing. I’m wondering if I can make it in a cast iron pan.

Hi Angie! Well, I’m not so pro… did you see I broke the egg with spatula so it has a hole?!?! The Japanese electric hot plate is great! We use for okonomiyaki, yakisoba, and yakiniku (Japanese bbq), etc. It’s over 10 years old too! I highly recommend a non-stick griddle.

YERM! Ok so, when I decided to make okonomiyaki and negiyaki, I was surprised by how many people feel downright outraged by people who prefer Hiroshima-styke okonomiyaki! It’s like the way Southerners feel about BBQ, which definitely has strong regional leanings. It sounds like you’re more relaxed about your approach, which is nice!

I’d love to try this with thick, wheat-y udon noodles while cooking for friends. Thanks for the great post!

What a fun dish! And one I’d have to practice making for a long time in order to be half as good at it as you are! There’s a lot of interesting technique going on in this dish, and I can think of adapting it to other flavors. Really fun recipe — thanks.

What an incredibly delicious dish. I’ve not had this yet and it makes me long for a trip to Japan. But since I can’t go right away, will bookmark this recipe so I can try to make it at home. Thanks for generously sharing the step by step and cooking tips + the recipe. Have a great week, Nami!

Nami-san this dish is gorgeous! I especially like that zoomed in picture as it make me want to reach through the screen to take a bite. I love both versions as well but I do love the Japanese Mayo condiment as it would not be the same without it. Great little video too. Wishing you a safe Memorial day weekend. Take Care, BAM

I am hard time having to wrap around my tongue around the names, can’t imagine this being an easy thing to pull off, you are a pro. But I won’t have any difficulty in wrapping my tongue around multile bites of this delicious plate…mnnnn

My friend and I went to Okonomimura and had a hard time choosing a restaurant and then the okonomiyaki. I went with a buta kimchi okonomiyaki with soba and my friend some American style one with udon. Both were delicious but man, the noodles definitely filled me up! But I have to say, I prefer Osaka-style okonomoyaki. I

Hi Asami! American style! Wonder what’s in it. It’s true, it’s almost like yakisoba, but eating crepe and eggs together. I actually like Modernyaki the best. It has Osaaka style okonomiyaki with Yakisoba together! <3

Nami, your Osaka style okonomiyaki is one of our favorites at home and I invite my niece over when I make it because she says it’s better than what’s available in the restaurants here in HK. Haha! And it’s all thanks to you! I’ll try this other style of okonomiyaki soon…just a few weeks ago, I ordered okonomiyakisoba from Gindaco and was quite disappointed to see that the okonomiyaki on top of the yakisoba were just 2 fried eggs! I’m sure this is going to be a waaaaay better version of that. WIll let you know how it goes!

Thank you for trying my okonomiyaki so many times! I’m very glad to hear your niece enjoy this dish too! I have been to some restaurants here that served terrible okonomiyaki too… very disappointing to get okonomiyaki that’s worse than what we can cook. Hope you enjoy Hiroshimaya style.

As you might know, I’m a crazy okonomiyaki fan who tweaks the recipe all the time. I always prepare the Kansai version because it’s much lighter, but I tasted the Hiroshima one last time I went to Japan too. I loved it, but it was sooo big, I could hardly move I have never tried it at home but I’m sure I would not manage to make it look even half as good as yours. I wonder how many years you have practiced it

I really enjoy reading the history behind the dishes you create. I had this dish before at a restaurant (just one) and remember really enjoying the whole experience. The donkatsu sauce is a MUST at our house. Your step by step photos and video is so helpful, as always! Hope you and your lovely family are doing well, Nami!

I just want to clarify something — on step 11 of the recipe, it says “Don’t press down the “crepe” with the spatula yet (you will do it so on Step 11).”
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but based on the pictures shown, I think you pressed down on the “crepe” on step 13 instead of 11.

As always, your dish looks so delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe.

I LOVE okonomi Sauce!! The first time I even tried okonomiyaki, was in college…unfortunately! Both, I love both versions as well. This Hiroshima style might be my preference, only because it fills me up more. LOL! But, i`m always amazed at how beautiful these look!

Thanks for the recipe. I wanted to eat it for lunch, but didn’t want to ask my wife to do it (nor how to do it, as she was busy with our child), so your recipe was exactly what I needed.

I made a few modifications: added some dashi to the batter (as my wife always does, that I remembered); used shrimps instead of pork (we both prefer it) and I added some shichimi – seven spice mix – to mine for some spiciness [for those who don’t know, it, or ichimi – crushed chili peppers – is often on the table in okonomiyaki restaurants)].

And the result? My wife said it was very delicious… and she’s from Osaka (though we both prefer Hiroshimayaki)!

Hi Jyves! I’m so glad to hear you and your wife enjoyed this recipe, and yeah the dashi always makes it more flavorful! My husband prefers to use ichimi togarashi too as he loves spicy food. Thank you so much for your kind feedback!

Hi Rebecca! Do you use back of the ladle to spread the batter? If you look at my video you can see the batter is spread into thin layer. That trick should help. However if you still think the batter is too thick to do that, you can thin out a bit so you can control better.